1 Kings 8:44

44 When Your people go out to fight against their enemies,^[a] wherever You send them, and they pray to the Lord in the direction of the city You have chosen^[b] and the temple I have built for Your name,

1 Kings 8:44 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:44

If thy people go out to battle against their enemy
In a foreign country, threatening to invade them, or having trespassed on their borders, or some way or other infringed on their liberties and privileges, and so given them just occasion to go to war with them:

whithersoever thou shalt send them;
this case supposes their asking counsel of God, or having a direction and commission from him by a prophet, or some other way, to engage in war with the enemy:

and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen,
and toward the house I have built for thy name:
for, notwithstanding the justness of their cause, and having a warrant from God to go to war, yet they were to pray to him for success when at a distance, even in a foreign land, and about to engage the enemy; and this they were to do, turning their faces towards the city of Jerusalem, and the temple there; declaring thereby that their dependence was upon the Lord that dwelt there, and their expectation of victory was only from him.

1 Kings 8:44 In-Context

42 for they will hear of Your great name, mighty hand, and outstretched arm, and will come and pray toward this temple-

43 may You hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all the foreigner asks You for. Then all the people on earth will know Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built is called by Your name.

44 When Your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever You send them, and they pray to the Lord in the direction of the city You have chosen and the temple I have built for Your name,

45 may You hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause.

46 When they sin against You- for there is no one who does not sin- and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to the enemy's country- whether distant or nearby-

Footnotes

• [a]. Some Hb mss, most ancient versions, 2 Ch 6:34; MT reads enemy
• [b]. Dt 12:11